Elise Mertens sets up Maria Sakkari clash as Johanna Konta also win in Rabat
Defending champion Elise Mertens made light work of Ivana Jorovic to join fellow seeds Maria Sakkari and Johanna Konta in the quarter-final of the Morocco Open.
The top-seeded Mertens won the last seven games of the match as she steamrolled the Serb 6-4, 6-0 in the second round.
.@elise_mertens books her ticket into the #WTARabat quarterfinals!
The defending champion moves on with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Jorovic 💪 pic.twitter.com/HLhBGLsgmJ
— WTA (@WTA) May 1, 2019
“I think my serve wasn’t as good as the first match, but I managed to get the win and battle on the clay,” the Belgian said.
“In the second there, there were a lot of deuces, advantage in the games, so it was a really tight match overall.”
Next up is a tricky encounter against sixth seed Sakkari after the Greek claimed a solid 6-4, 6-4 win over Bulgarian qualifier Isabella Shinikova.
Fourth seed Alja Tomljanovic was made to work for her win by Timea Bacsinszky as the Australian overcame a second-set wobble to win 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 and earn a clash against Rebecca Peterson, who was a 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 winner over Polona Hercog.
British No 1 Konta also had to battle for her win as the seventh seed beat Romanian Ana Bogdan 6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2 and her reward is a last-eight showdown with second seed Hsieh Su-wei, who beat Lara Arruabarrena 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Hsieh Su-Wei came back from a set down to clinch the match over Arruabarrena, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 💪#WTARabat pic.twitter.com/EMAJxBhMLH
— WTA (@WTA) May 1, 2019
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